Investigators Thursday night continued to look for the cause of a mid-morning fire that gutted the Friendly’s restaurant on West Main Street, closing it for the foreseeable future.

Norwich Deputy Fire Marshal Jake Manke said there was significant damage to the building, at 620 W. Main St. in front of the Marcus Plaza, and its contents.

The Norwich Fire Department received its first call at 9:59 a.m. The restaurant, which was open for business, was quickly evacuated after discovering smoke in the kitchen area.

Firefighters arrived to find a fast-moving blaze.

East Great Plain Fire Chief Patrick Daley said firefighters found the fire in the building’s attic, where it moved horizontally across the structure.

Fighting the blaze

Firefighters with axes and power saws cut holes in the roof as flames shot through the crown of the building. Other firefighters made their way into the smoke-filled structure.

“The most damage from the fire was in the attic,” said Daley, who said he did not consider the fire suspicious. “The main problem was getting firefighters up through the ceiling and into the attic.”

Norwich Fire Chief Kenneth Scandariato said it was unusual to have a fire start in the attic of a building like the restaurant.

The fire was brought under control within an hour. Firefighters spent another hour looking for hot spots and ventilating the building.

There were no injuries reported.

Christopher LaRose, assistant general manager for Norwich Public Utilities, said there was a power outage at Friendly’s and all the buildings in Marcus Plaza, except Shop Rite, shortly before the fire broke out.

“We had some branches go down and it took out the power to several businesses,” LaRose said, adding that the power had been restored before the fire was discovered.

NPU cut power to most of the same businesses a second time to assist firefighters.

Friendly’s manager Stacy Farcloth would not comment on the fire, saying representatives from the restaurant’s corporate office in Wilbraham, Mass., were on the way.

The Yantic and East Great Plain fire departments assisted Norwich in fighting the blaze.